Latch operating unit



Feb l, 1955 E. L. 'rElcH ErAL 2,701,160

LATCH OPERATING UNIT Filed Feb. 20, 1951 United States Patent O LATCH OPERATING UNIT Ernest L. Teich and Irving J. Fletcher, New Britain,

Conn., assignors to The American Hardware Corporation, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 20, 1951, Serial No. 211,939

Claims. (Cl. 292-3363) This invention relates to a latch operating unit and more particularly to the mechanism of a unit for operating the latch of a door lock of the cylindrical type.

It is an object of this invention to provide a latch operating unit for a cylindrical lock of an improved construction which will permit, with minor alterations, the adaptation of the lock for performing different functions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel construction for the latch operating unit of a cylindrical lock, which will facilitate the production of the unit, greatly improve the durability thereof, and also facilitate its assembly and the installation thereof in a door or the like.

A still further object of the invention is to provide improved means for locking the knob Shanks to the assembly of the latch operating unit.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following descrip tion and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a sectional plan view of our improved latch operating unit with parts thereof shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is an end view of said unit, on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, with the rosette plate removed therefrom.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the unit housing and shank securing means.

Fig. 4 is a sectional end view on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the casing and parts contained therein with the connector being shown in section on line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the cover plate and the movable shank securing member.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the indicator scalp used in our improved unit.

ln the embodiment of our invention as illustrated in the drawings, the latch operating unit shown includes generally a case 5, an inner operating knob 6, an outer operating knob 7, an inner rose, or escutcheon, 8 and an outer rose 9.

The case 5 is cup-shaped, preferably constructed of sheet metal and has a bottom wall 10 at the outer end thereof. A tubular outer sleeve 11 is rigidly secured to the said bottom Wall 10 and a similar inner sleeve 12 is rigidly secured to the cover plate 13 which lits in the open end of the case 5.

Within the said case 5, there is provided a sub-frame 14 which, as fully disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 211,940, tiled February 20, 1951, has side arms 15 15 with outwardly extending perpendicular projections 16 16 thereon that lit within the notches 17 17 in the case to retain the sub-frame in position. Each of the said side arms also has laterally extending inwardly bent projections 18 18 having openings therein which receive a bar 19 that secures a retractor guide bar 20 to the said projections 18-18 and also retains in position a retractor spring 21.

The retractor is constructed of a U-shaped member 22 having inwardly bent lingers 23 which are adapted to receive the lugs at the end of the retractor link of a conventional latch bolt unit, not shown, that is operated by the said retractor. This U-shaped member 22 slidably lits between the guide bars 20 20 and has secured thereto, at the opposite side thereof, plates 24-24 which arc provided at the opposite sides thereof with projections 25-25 that are engaged by the operating ends of rollbacks 26 26, each of which is provided with a shank 27 that fits within opposed notches 28 in annular connectors 29 which are rotatably mounted within enlarged portions of the bores inside of the sleeves 11 and 12. These connectors are positioned between shoulders in the interior of said bore which deline the said enlarged portions, and the side plates 24-124 of the retractor. The Shanks 27 of the roll-backs have enlarged portions 30 which lit within the bores of the connectors and thereby secure the roll-backs thereto.

The retractor plates 24 are provided with inwardly bent tabs 24-a which are disposed at opposite sides of the bars 19 and are in abutment with the movable ends of the springs 21 which bias the said retractor outwardly into its normal position as illustrated in Fig. 5. When either of the knobs 6 or 7 is rotated, it will rotate its respective connector 29 which will in turn rotate its respective roll-back 26 and thereby urge the retractor rearwardly into the case 5 and operate the latch. When the knob is released, the springs 21 will force the retractor outwardly and also return the roll-back and the knob to their normal position.

The outer knob 7 has a shank 31 which is rotatable within the sleeve 11 and is provided with prongs 32 that extend into corresponding notches in the respective connector 29 for rotating said connector, upon the rotation of the knob 7, to operate the respective roll-back 26 and thereby cause retraction of the retractor and operation of the latch bolt.

The inner knob 6 has a shank 33 which is rotatable within the sleeve 12 and has prongs 34 that extend into corresponding notches in the respective connector 29 so as to cause rotation of said connector upon rotation of the knob 6 for the operation of the respective roll-back 26.

It will be noted that the cover plate 13 has lateral extensions 35-35 which lit within the notches 17 17, over the projections 16-16 of the sub-frame, and thereby retain the said sub-frame in position. The cover plate is secured to the case by means of screws 36-36 which fit through the projections 35 35 and 16-16 and through the case 5 and the bottom 10 thereof and are threaded to the thickened portions 37-37 of a securing bar 38 which extends through a slot 39 in the outer sleeve 11 and into a groove 40 in the shank 31 so as to rotatably secure the said shank to the sleeve 11 and thereby secure the outer knob in operative position. The shank 33 of the inner knob 6 is similarly rotatably secured to the inner sleeve 12 by means of the inner securing bar 41, which bar extends through a slot 42 in said inner sleeve and into the annular locking groove 43 in the shank 33.

The said inner securing bar has side prongs 44-44 at opposite ends thereof which straddle the sleeve 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, to slidably retain the said bar within the slot 42. At the upper portion of the bar there is provided an offset prong 45 which is slidable within a notch 46 in the cover 13 and receives coils 47 of a spring member having stems 48 which extend under hook portions 49 49 on the cover plate 13 and cause the said spring member to normally urge the securing bar 41 into securing position within the locking groove 43. The upper portion of the said securing bar is also provided with tabs 50 which retain the spring member in operative postion upon the offset prong 45.

It will be noted that the outer rose 9 is preferably formed of sheet metal and has a liner plate 51 secured to the inside thereof, said liner plate-having inwardly projecting prongs 52 thereon. The said rose is provided with a hub member 53 that is rigidly secured thereto and is threaded to the outer sleeve 11.

The inner rose 8 has rigidly secured thereto a liner plate 54 which is provided with 'outwardly extending prongs 55 and the said inner rose also has a hub member 56 which is threaded to the inner sleeve 12. This hub member 56 is not rigidly secured to the inner rose but is rotatable therein and may be rotated, by means of a suitable tool litting within a recess 57 in said hub member, to permit the installation of the lock as will be hereinafter described.

It will be further noted that our improved latch operating unit is provided with a tubular scalp 58 which lits closely over the inner end of the inner sleeve, and that a similar scalp 59 is provided over the outer end of the outer sleeve 11. These scalps serve to reduce the cost of finishing the exterior of our unit since they may be electro-plated, or otherwise finished, separately from the unit and thereby alleviate the necessity of finishing the unexposed portions of the unit.

The outer scalp 59 is provided with indicating marks, such as rings 60, around the exterior thereof and these marks are spaced apart at predetermined distances, corresponding to differences between standard thicknesses of doors, so as to provide a means whereby the unit may be adapted to fit the thickness of a particular door prior to the installation thereof in said door.

Our improved unit provides maximum ease in the installation thereof to a door, or the like, and may be furnished with all the parts thereof completely assembled as shown in Fig. l. The installation of the said unit can then be easily performed in the following manner:

First, the inner knob 6 and inner rose 8 are removed frorn the unit by unscrewing the hub 56 of the inner rose, with either a suitable tool or a finger, and moving the rose 8 to a rearward position on the sleeve 12 which will permit access to the inner securing bar 41. The said securing bar is then forced upwardly, against the tension of the spring member with the coils 47 and thereby releasing the inner shank 33 and permitting the inner knob 6 to be detached from the unit; whereupon the hub 56 and inner rose 8 may also be detached.

The outer rose 9, which is rigidly secured to the hub member 53, is then rotated to unscrew the` said hub member outwardly on the sleeve 11 to a position relatively thereto which may be determined by registering the outer edge of the hub 53 with the proper ring 60 on the outer scalp 59 which indicates a door thickness nearest to that of the door in which the unit is to be installed.

When the said outer rose has been properly positioned to conform to the said thicknes of the door, the unit is inserted through the opeing in the door, which has been previously provided for the reception of the unit, until the case 5 rests within said opening and the prongs 52 on the outer rose 9 penetrate into the outer surface of the door so as to prevent rotation of the outer rose. It will be of course understood that, as the case 5 is moved into its position within the opening in the door, the fingers 23 of the retractor are moved over the lugs at the end of the retractor link of the latch unit.

When the unit case has been properly positioned in the door opening, as above described, the inner rose 8 is placed against the inner surface of the door and the hub member 56 is screwed onto the sleeve l2 until the roses 8 and 9 are drawn firmly against the surfaces of the door and the prongs 55 and 52 thereof are embedded into the side of the door. The shank 33 of the inner knob is then inserted into the inner sleeve 12 until the end of said shank abuts the securing bar 41, whereupon the shank is rotated by the knob 6 to cause the prongs 34 to move the said securing bar upwardly, against the tension of the spring member, and thereby permit further inward movement of the shank and entry of the said prongs 34 into the respective notches in the connector Z9 and of the securing bar into the annular groove 43 and the installation of the door lock is then completed.

It will be clearly understood from the above description that, ordinarily, the outer knob and shank need not be removed to permit installation of the unit in a door. However, if it should be desired to detach the knob '7 for any particular reason, this can be done by first removing one of the screws 35 and then loosening the other. The bar 3S may then be swung upwardly about the other screw as the pivotal point to release the shank 31 of the outer knob and permit it to be detached from the operating unit.

It will be also understood that the hub 53 of the outer rose 9 cannot be unscrewed on the sleeve 11, since the said hub is rigidly secured to the rose and therefore cannot be rotated until the prongs of said rose have been pulled out of the door side by manipulation of the unit from the inside of the door, from where the inner rose 8 may be drawn back by unscrewing the hub 56 thereof which is not secured to the rose and thereby may be rotated.

I claim:

l. A latch operating unit comprising a cylindrical case having an inner end wall and an outer end wall, inner and outer tubular sleeves secured respectively to and extending outwardly from each of said walls, the

CFI

4 inner wall forming a cover for the case, a latch retractlng mechanism contained within said case, a knob shank rotatable in each of said sleeves and operatively connected with said mechanism, an outer securing bar extending crosswise to the outer sleeve and through a slot therein into an annular groove in the knob shank within said outer sleeve and thereby rotatably securing said shank in operative engagement with the mechanism, a spuug-biased inner securing bar slidable upon the said cover and extending crosswise to the inner sleeve and through a slot therein into an annular groove in the knob shank within said inner sleeve and thereby rotatably securing said shank in operative engagement with the mechanism, and fastening means comprising screws extending through said cover and outer wall of the case into threaded engagement with the said outer securing bar to thereby fasten the said outer securing bar and cover to the case; the said screws being operable only lfrom the inside of the case to release said outer securing 2. A latch operating unit comprising a cylindrical case having an inner and an outer end wall, the inner wall providing a cover for said case, inner and outer tubular sleeves respectively fixed to and extending outwardly from each of said walls, a knob shank rotatably mounted in each of said sleeves and having an annular groove in the exterior thereof, a latch retracting mechanism in said case, means operatively connecting each of said Shanks with said mechanism, a securing bar extending crosswise to the outer sleeve and through an opening therein into the groove in the outer knob shank for rotatably securing the said shank in said sleeve and in operative engagement with the mechanism, a pair of screws extending through opposite sides of the cover and the case and threaded to opposite ends of said securing bar for fastening the bar to the case in shank securing position and also fastening the said cover to the case, and a spring-biased retractable securing member mounted upon the said cover and extending through a slot in the inner sleeve into the annular groove of the inner knob shank and rotatably securing said shank in operative engagement with the mechanism.

3. A latch operating unit comprising a cylindrical case having a bottom wall, an annular wall with notches in the free edge thereof disposed at opposite sides of the case, a sub-frame, parallel side arms projecting from said subframe, lateral extensions on said side arms fitting within said notches, a cover plate fitting within the open end of said case and having lateral extensions fitting within said notches over the extensions of the said side arms, a sleeve extending from one end of said case, a knob having a shank rotatably mounted in said sleeve, a securing member extending through a slot in the sleeve into an annular groove in said shank for rotatably securing the shank within the sleeve, extensions on said securing member disposed adjacent the end of said case, and fastening means extending through said cover, lateral projections on the said side arms, the end of the case and said extensions on the securing member for securing all of said parts in assembled condition.

4. A latch operating unit comprising a cylindrical case having a bottom wall at the outer end thereof and an open inner end, a sub-frame mounted within said case, a cover fitting the open end of said case, a sleeve projecting from said bottom wall, an outer knob having a shank rotatably mounted in said sleeve, a securing member comprising a bar extending through a slot in said sleeve into an annular groove in the shank for rotatably securing the shank within the sleeve, and a pair of screws extending outwardly from the inner end of the case through the said cover, sub-frame and bottom wall and threaded to said extensions of the securing bar for fastening the cover, sub-frame and securing bar to the case in assembled position.

5. A latch operating unit comprising a cylindrical case having an open end, a cover for said open end of the case, a sleeve on said cover projecting outwardly therefrom, a knob having a shank rotatably mounted in said sleeve and adapted to operate the latch retracting mechanism in said case, a securing member comprising a bar extending transversely of the sleeve through a slot therein and into an annular groove in said shank for rotatably securing the shank in the sleeve, projections on said bar disposed at opposite sides of the sleeve for guiding sald bar relatively thereto, an extension on said bar shdably tting within a slot in the cover for preventing rotational movement of the bar relatively to the sleeve, a pair of spaced projections on said cover on opposite sides of the securing member, a spring having a coil wound around the said extension and stems anchored to said spaced projections for normally urging said securing member into shank securing position, and tabs on said securing member retaining said spring in position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wread Mar. 29, Ellingson Sept. 13, Woernle Dec. 5, Schlage Feb. 12, Grimsrud Apr. 6, Roy Feb. 8, Cerf Apr. 3, Cerf Apr. 15,

Patterson I an. 12, 

